Banana Crumb Muffins

I love muffins and I especially love muffins that have crumbly toppings. In an effort to expand my toddler's taste buds, I decided to make muffins with his favorite food....bananas. Actually, he calls them 'nanas which is so darn cute. Anyway, he is your typical toddler. He liked them on Sunday, wouldn't eat one on Monday. Anyone want to bet if he eats them on Tuesday? Your guess is as good as mine. Never fear, I like them so they aren't going to waste. Did I mention they have a yummy sugar muffin top.

A special thanks to Joelen for encouraging bloggers to make muffins for her September challenge. I was very excited when I saw her post and started searching for recipes immediately. Now, on to blueberry muffins. Yipee.

Banana Crumb Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Pancakes

My aunt makes fantastic pancakes. She has a great recipe and unfortunately, I don't have it. I am hoping that will all change when I see her for Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I found this easy recipe on Recipezaar this weekend. It was simple to make and delicious. So, until Thanksgiving, I am going to enjoy making these pancakes.

Pancakes

2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 eggs, beat them separately before adding to mixture
1/4 cup butter, melted (1/8 of a pound)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Mix the dry items first. Combine the eggs and melted butter to the milk and slowly stir in the flour. Let sit at least 10 minutes while heating the pan. These will be high, but light and fluffy .

Baking Gals Mission: SnickerDoodles

I am a veteran of Operation Baking Gals and just completed my latest baking mission. This is the third month that this fantastic group has been in existence and it's already up to 700 bakers. That's pretty impressive.

This month I sent a few dozen SnickerDoodles. I hope our troops overseas love 'em cause I know that my little boy sure did. In fact, he devoured them. So, you know what that means...I'll be making them again in the future.

I am gonna let ya'll in on a little secret. Before Saturday, I had never had a SnickerDoodle. Crazy, huh? My first batch was a little dry, but batches two and three were delish. I borrowed my recipe from a blog -- no surprise there.

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.

Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets

Thanks, Dinner on a Dime, for a new family favorite.

TWD: Creme Brulee

Oh. My. Goodness.

I made creme brulee, and if I didn't know better I would think it was made by a restaurant. Yes, that's right, folks, I mastered creme brulee! I can't tell you how excited I am. I feel like I need to add some exclamations to get my point across!!!!

Creme brulee is my favorite dessert. I have a "Best Of" list.. best cupcake in town, best bagel, best crab cakes, and the list goes on, including best creme brulee. As of yesterday, my best creme brulee now has the distinction of being made by me. Thanks, Dorie.

I don't know why I am so excited. It was so easy that I just knew it was going to flop. Not only was I impressed, but I invited the MIL to show off. She devoured it! Yea, me. Well, enough of my incessant raving, stop by the TWD blogroll to see if everyone did as well as I did. Oh, yea, thank you, thank you, thank you to Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake for making my day and picking this recipe.

World Day of Bread

I have never, ever, made bread. I have bread recipes, but they have never been dusted off. I don't know why I am intimidated of making bread, but I am. Heck, let's be honest, I am down right scared. So, in order to get over my fear, I have decided to participate in World Bread Day.

Yep, there is such a thing as World Bread Day. Who knew. It's on October 16.

So, on that day, I will make bread. Don't worry, there won't be any smack-talking about how great my bread is going to be. If I can get it to rise, that's gonna be a success. Who cares what it tastes like...I will have made bread.

Want to join in the dough-rising fun. Click on the link in my sidebar for all of the specifics. Goooo, Yeast!

TWD: Plum Cake

Last week, I sat out the chocolate chunkers. This week, I was determined not to sit on the side lines. There were a lot of reasons that I wanted to make Dorie's recipe, but my main inspiration were the plums. I haven't had any all summer. Not because they didn't look good, but because I am horrible at picking out good plums. My mom is a master at picking delicious plums. Me, not so much.

I wouldn't say that I loved this recipe. It was good, but that's about it. I can't blame it on the plums -- they tasted good. I tried hard to love it, in fact, I had big plans for the plum cake to make some rounds during the holidays. No such luck. If anyone asks me to make a dessert with plums, I got one. I'll let you know if anyone request such a recipe.

Now, back on a high note. I love next week's recipe...creme brulee. Yum. I know all the restaurants with the best creme brulee in town. Boy, wouldn't it be nice if I could make it at home and save some money. I have the dishes, a blow torch and lots of spoons.

Thanks to Michelle at Bake-En and go find out what everyone else thought of this recipe at the TWD Blogroll.

Parmesan Chicken

I love cheese and parmesan cheese is one of my favorites. So, when I found this recipe by Barefoot Contessa on the food network for parmesan chicken, I had to save it immediately. Tonight was the night for it to tempt my tastebuds. It was so moist and I loved the yummy goodness. I have become a master at making dinner in about 30 minutes and tonight I didn't let myself down. The only flaw -- and it's a big one -- I forgot to take a photo. I was so impressed with myself that I had dinner on the table in exactly 30 minutes from the time I walked in the door, I completely forgot. Don't let my lack of photo stop you, go make this recipe.


P.S. I will say it again, I am in love with Barefoot Contessa.


Parmesan Chicken
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm keeping it simple this week. Seems like my week is going by faster than it takes to make dinner at night. I ended having to work every night after work and we ate out like you wouldn't believe. Hoping this week goes better, but who knows...

So, without further adieu, here's what I have planned:

Sunday: BBQ Pork

Monday: Parmesan Chicken

Tuesday: Brown Sugar Ham

Wednesday: Working Late

Thursday: Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

Friday: Mojito Mama's Night

Saturday: Eating Out

Make sure you visit I'm an Organized Junkie to see what others are making.

Apple Turnovers

Yum, yum, yum. Oh my goodness. Wow. My mouth just won't stop watering.

I made apple turnovers tonight, thanks to Anne over at Anne Strawberry who chose this month's Barefoot Bloggers bonus recipe. It was so easy to make that I will never buy frozen apple turnovers again. I only made four -- baked two and put two in the freezer for this weekend. Yep, I am a smart one. I am pleased with myself for thinking to do that.

My husband isn't a big turnover fan -- blasphemy, I say -- so I am going to share one with my son tomorrow morning.

Have I mentioned how glad I am that I joined Barefoot Bloggers? Ina's recipes are amazing. I am in love.

Apple Turnovers

from Ina Garten

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice1

1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)

3 tablespoons dried cherries

(1/4 Cup)3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

(1/2 teaspoon)

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (just a pinch)

Pinch kosher salt

1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice (I will cut mine a little bigger next time, around 1 inch, so they stay a little firmer when baking). Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed (about 25 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature.

I'm A Tuesdays With Dorie Slacker

Sorry, guys. No baking this weekend. Just too much on my plate right now. I normally bake when my little one is asleep. When he slept this weekend, I slept. Sleep has been eluding me and I couldn't keep my eyes open. Got some pretty bags under my eyes. I am looking forward to the plum cake. Don't count me out...just sitting the bench for this one.

Go check out Claudia of Fool for Food and everyone else at the TWD Blog.